Chapter 11

2078 a.d.

Preparation

The outskirts of her district were the farthest south that anyone could grow crops due to the lack of good dirt and the scarcity of water. The irrigation problems were a total nightmare because most of the spring storms occurred further north, nearer the equator.

Jolene flew over an abandoned homestead that had been left untended two years ago when the last homesteaders had died of the plague before the arrival of her and her sisters. This parcel of land could be awarded out to some deserving soul or family the next time she held court in her new Goddess' Temple. It would be a magnanimous gesture of good will, she hoped.

Jolene was not very popular, although she was as fair-minded as any other goddess who held her own court. But, people remembered that it was she who had ordered the only execution since the goddesses' arrival.

She wasn't too worried, though. It wasn't like she didn't have the time to prove her benevolence to the people in her district. She had all the time in the world. If nothing else, she would simply outlive those who remembered.

There were two more abandoned farms she wanted to check out, so she banked left. Noticing a pleasant updraft, she spread her wings wide to take advantage of it, stretching her entire body ecstatically as she was swept skyward.

Suddenly, Jolene doubled up and folded her wings forward as a sudden, powerful cramp seized her belly. Then she stared down at her stomach in amazement. She was covered with blood. As she watched, a hole appeared in her right breast. It hurt like hell!

She lost her balance and spiraled dizzyingly down, unable to keep her wings stretched and level, mostly because of that terrible cramping in her stomach. As yet another hole appeared in her chest just below her left breast, she realized what was happening.

"I'm being shot!" she exclaimed out loud, then coughed up a surprising amount of blood from her perforated lungs.

Madly seeking over the wildly spinning landscape, she tried to determine where her sniper was. But she couldn't concentrate, and she was spinning and falling too rapidly to see anything dangerous.

As the ground rushed up to greet her, she spread her wings and madly pumped against the rushing air. A hole punched into her diaphragm dead center, just beneath her breastbone, knocking the wind completely out of her. Jolene hit hard, face first, and lay unmoving on the ground, bleeding a little from several holes in her back where the shells had gone completely through her slender body.

"Nice shootin', Jed!" a voice from half-a-field away called out. "Damn near cut 'er in half with that last one!

"Couldn't help it – that devil girl landed right on top o' me!" Jed called back.

Russell trotted across the weed-covered field toward where his brother was bending down over their trophy. By the time he reached Jolene's crash site, Jed already had her wings bundled up and tied neatly behind her.

"Almost done," Jed said, grinning and looking up as his brother trotted up, breathless from his short run. "About the size of a small deer, wouldn't you say?"

"A bit puny for my taste," Russell replied, grinning back. "But I reckon she'll cook up okay." Russell helped Jed pick the little vampire up and heave her over Jed's shoulders.

"We can have some fun with her before we cook 'er, ya know?" Russell grinned, running his hand over Jolene's blood-streaked bare rump. "She may not be human, but she got all the necessary parts..." They both laughed, agreeing that they would, indeed, have some fun with their dinner.

"Didn't Momma ever tell ya that it ain't proper polite to play with yer food?" Jed laughed.

"I ain't gonna play with it," Russell laughed. "I'm gonna fuck it! And then I'm gonna eat it!"

"How many shells it take to bring 'er down?" Jed asked. "I got her at least twice..."

"I got her twice, too!" Russell replied. "Make sure we git all the shot out 'fore we eat 'er."

"What'd'ya suppose she is?" Jed asked. "Ever seen anything like 'er before?"

"Nope, not in real life," Russell replied. "But, there's pitchers of winged things like her in a book Pa had. She's like some kind 'a demon straight outta hell!"

"Think it's safe ta eat 'er?" Jed asked. "If she's from Hell, her meat might be poison..."

"Well, we can feed part of her to the dog, reckon," Russell said thoughtfully. "Then if he don die, we'll eat 'er!"

"Good thinkin'!" Jed agreed. "Hate t' see good meat go t' waste! Here – it's yer turn t' carry 'er!"

Jed rolled the limp form down off his shoulder and onto the ground in front of him.

"Didn't bleed very much," Jed observed. "Fact, I can't even tell where I shot 'er!"

"Weird!" Russell observed, thoughtfully wiping sweat off his forehead. "Look! She's breathin'! She ain't dead yet!"

"Better shoot 'er agin!" Jed yelped. "Don't want no angry demon swarmin' all over us like a mad hornet!"

"Use the shotgun on 'er!" Russell hollered.

Jed anxiously unslung his long double-barreled twelve-gauge and shoved it against Jolene's chest, right between her breasts. She opened her eyes and stared at him in terror, then arched her back with a guttural grunt as a hole appeared where her heart used to be. She flopped backward on the ground; her eyes rolling up into her head, her chest, belly and neck spattered with fresh blood.

"Shit!" Russell exclaimed. "Now she gonna bleed all over me!"

"Well, we could wait a few minutes 'til she done bleedin'..." Jed replied. "I need a rest anyway from carryin' 'er. I ain't afraid t' tell ya she scares the beegeebers outta me!"

After about ten minutes, the bleeding seemed to stop and Russell hoisted her up. As he lifted her, her wings flopped loose and spread out behind her.

"Aw, shit, man!" Russell complained. "You done shot the ropes off! I cain't carry 'er like that!"

"Grab a leg," Jed replied. "We'll just drag 'er..."

With one burly brother on each ankle, they dragged Jolene, her limp, useless wings flopping over the ground behind her, toward the abandoned homestead where they were staying.